At my last doc appointment, my doc looked over all my numbers & printouts from my Omnipod and Dexcom & said that since there is NO discernable pattern, she thinks I am becoming more insulin resistant.
She wanted to start me on metformin, but did not push it as we are trying new/different thyroid meds first.
Has anyone out there found any natural ways (supplements or anything) to be more insulin sensitive? I think I have found one, but it does not seem to work during the week before my period (sorry if TMI).
Or are there any T1's out there that also use metformin that have seen a real difference in their insulin resistance? I'm just very worried about the side effects.
I can't offer you much experience with metformin, but I did successfully and finally conquer my insulin resistance. I'm a T1D and about six or seven years ago, after a long and steady rise in my A1c's from mid-6% to 8%, my endocrinologist gave me some sample T2 meds. I can't remember exactly what they were but I think it was either Januvia or Janumet. I only took them for a few days but they increased my hypoglycemia and when I reported this to the doctor, he told me to stop them.
Looking back from this point in time, I conclude that my gradual rise in weight, from 165 to 180 pounds over 10 years, coincided with a gradual rise in total daily insulin intake, from about 40 units to about 65 units. All the while, my ability to bring down high BGs worsened. I even had experiences where my high BG corrections would not move my BG at all!
What cured my insulin resistance was adopting a lowered carb diet. I reduced my carb intake from about 250 grams/day down to 50-70 grams per day. That led to a 23 pound weight loss and a 50% reduction in my overall insulin dose.
My experience may not be what you're looking for, but a change in diet is a natural change that can restore insulin sensitivity, at least in this T1D. It's great that you're aware that insulin resistance is the culprit in your situation. If I had realized that sooner and acted on it, I would have saved myself years of poor control. Good luck to you.
Weight loss is probably the best natural way to make longterm improvements to insulin resistance. It doesn't really matter how you lose the weight - low carb diet is one possibility but there are an endless number of other alternatives. All that matters it that it works for you.
Exercise is the best natural way to make shortterm improvements to insulin resistance. If you exercise every day for a week your insulin sensitivity will improve measurably. You need to keep exercising (every other day or so) or your insulin resistance will return after a few days of inactivity. But exercise has other advantages besides improvement to insulin sensitivity, including helping with weight loss, so by all means stick with it.
Exercise is the best natural way - just watch out for increased insulin sensitivity even hours after you exercise....
I do use metformin and it reduced the amount of insulin I use by about 20-25%, and had the added benefit of some weight loss. (At 6'0 and 168 lbs I am not overweight).
My endo was clear that an alternative to the metformin was a regular program of exercise.
There are some studies which show that people who take metformin have a lower risk of getting some cancers.
I have DRASTICALLY changed my diet in the past year (as you might be able to see from some of my other posts or comments). I make an effort to keep my carbs at each meal under 45g and I usually hit that goal. Of course I do have the occasional "treat" but I have really tried to limit those.
Terry, your situation sounds a lot like mine. I can bolus and bolus and bolus, but that high blood sugar will NOT come down for anything. I feel like everything else is working, because the line on my Dexcom is pretty straight, with only a slight rise after meals. Too bad it's not in between the goal lines to begin with!
I do walk in the evenings for exercise, but the evenings are usually when I am teetering on the brink of lows so sometimes it's hard. I might need to change to morning walks now.
I am a long time T2. About a year ago I ditched the mediocre, haphazard approach and became very aggressive about control and management. I do use metformin, and am fortunate to have no discernible side effects. I also exercise consistently, eat a low carb diet, and am about 35 lbs lighter than I used to be. I can't really measure what percentage each of those factors contributes, but all of them together add up to low IR -- 15 units is an above-average day for me.
I have the same issue: sometimes insulin does nothing. I've found this to be the case when I'm either sedentary (travelling is murder) or when I eat a high-fat meal. When this happens, the only thing that works is to do some vigorous exercise along with a bolus. I find even 10 minutes of running up stairs, or jogging, or jumping (we have a trampoline) can have instant and huge effects. Once, I jumped on the tramp after my BG wouldn't come down and went from 280 to 80 in 10 minutes.
It can be inconvenient at times (I'll sometimes run stairs in the middle of the night) but it never fails.
I asked my endo about this and he looked at me like I claimed to be Elvis. Then he mumbled something about exercise physiology being different than normal insulin action, but it's only when I bolus and exercise that this works.
I'm so frustrated about this today that I could just lose it.
All this past weekend, my blood sugar numbers were PERFECT! Under 150 at all times, went a little low a couple of times, but was able to come back up without overcorrecting, and had a perfect little bump after each meal but came back down to within range in under two hours.
Yesterday (Monday) and today, my sugar has not been under 200 for more than half an hour. Overnight I spiked up to 300 and now after lunch, it's like my insulin was WATER and I'm hovering around 270.
I've kept the same schedule, the same eating habits, the same exercise, EVERYTHING. I just can't find any pattern to this at all and it's making me so mad! I hate wasting insulin by throwing more & more at a high blood sugar that won't come down. It's not helping me lose any weight either. Frustrations!!!
If you were becoming more insulin resistant, the discernable pattern would be your required doses going up and up. The doc would be able to discern either of these.
If your numbers are randomly varying, but your doses and/or correction doses not going up and up, I'm not sure that's insulin resistance. I think that's called "real life".
Blaming everything on "insulin resistant" is not very productive. Almost 30 years ago I worked with a guy who blamed everything on those "dang commies" :-)
Oh the correction doses are going up. Not every day, but over time. My I:C ratio is pretty aggressive right now (1:3 and 1:4 depending on time of day).
When I bolus for lunch and my Dexcom graph jumps 50 points and refuses to come down once the insulin is supposedly working....I think that's insulin resistance. It doesn't go UP any more. Just will. not. come. down. And as I mentioned, I have been eating the same things and keeping to the same schedule.
Even the Dexcom software could not find any patterns for my blood sugars.
Ren - only if they cause a delayed reaction then maybe?? And wouldn't it be logical that once I've calmed down and relaxed a while my numbers would go back down?
KCCO, I'm with you. Something materially changes with me, too: it's like a switch. When it's one way, insulin just doesn't seem to work, period. When it's the other, it works exactly as it's supposed to. I sometimes think it has to do with saturated fat, and sometimes with lack of exercise, but I haven't been able to convince myself of that. It really does feel like something else is going on, and it's too frequent to be illness or stress.
Tim, I wouldn't say I'm blaming insulin resistance: I'm trying to describe the phenomenon. Insulin stops working.
I'm interested in any observations or theories anyone has on this...
If your bg goes up 50 points after meal... that doesn't mean the insulin isn't working. I don't think it indicates any kind of failure. I think that just means you need a minor tweak in doses.
If doses are going up over time, just an eyeball glance at total daily dose trends should tell you that. Doesn't take fancy software and a rocket scientist :-)
That would be logical, yes. It doesn't seem logical that your levels are great all weekend and then on Monday, you're resistant. It just seems that something else is at work here.
Do you drink coffee while at work but not during the weekend? Are you much more active during the weekend than you are at work?
I am far less experienced with this than you are - I'm just tossing out some stuff in the unlikely event that something catches. It sounds horribly frustrating.
Thank YOU Steve. That is exactly how it feels--a switch. Right now, it's off. Later for whatever unknown reasons, it'll be back on.
I just thought, "A-ha! The saturated fat in my lunch!" But I checked the main thing that I ate and it says 0g. And there was probably less than 10g in the yogurt I ate as well.
Lack of exercise--who knows. I sit at a desk all day. I try to get up and stretch at least several times a day, but this week I'm filling in for someone else, so my workload is doubled and get-away time is limited.
Yeah, like I said: I haven't been able to convince myself of the exercise theory, but the timing makes me wonder. Travel is murder for me, too: I basically stop eating any carbs when I'm on a plane.
I should probably invest in a Fitbit and see if I can correlate it with the switch...
Best of luck and reply to the thread if you figure something out.
Just so you know you're not being singled out for this treatment . . .
I've been high ALL DAY. 99 times out of 100 I could have eaten that breakfast, with that bolus, and been right back to normal now (hours later). But noooooooo . . . . not today! Go figure. Seriously, it happens to us all sometimes. Or nearly all.
I am not sure if one of your questions has been answered. I am a type 1 on 500 mg Metformin. And yes, it did drop my total daily insulin by about 20 units, on average. And it has remained that way for a couple of years.
I am not promoting Met if you do not need it. It is the total daily dose over time that you want to check. My average daily total was in the 70 to 75 range and now is in the 50 range. That is without a change in diet. Mine increased over several years. My endo put me on Met and the TDD began dropping fairly quickly. But, again, I don't recommend it unless you truly are insulin resistant. Weight loss & diet will determine if it is resistance or lifestyle.
